Door-operating device.



A. GOTTSCHALK DOOR OPERATING DEVICE.

APPMOATION FILED gar-r. 24, 1909.

Patented June 17, 1913.

INVENTOR W I T N E S S E a Q [24%,

m *rnn STATES PATENT i OFFICE.

ALBERT GQTTSCHALK, F YGRJK, Y., ASfSIGNOB T0 NATIONAL PNEUMATIC COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CQRIORATIDN 91 WEST VIRGINIA.

Specification of Letters Yatent.

/ DOOBFOPEBATING DEVICE.

Patented June 17-, i913.

To all whom it may concewi Be it known that l, ALnsn'r Go'rrscimnu, a citizen of the United Statics, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New Yoru, have invented new and useful Improvements in Door-Operating Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a fluid pressure device for operating doors, gates, and the like, and particularly our doors such as used in cars of elevated railways, subways, local suburban traffic and electric traction service generally. In this class of. service the door or doors may be located at the end or at the middle of the and may some dis tance from the motorman. guard or conductor Who is to control the opening and closing of the door. and it is desirable that such an apparatus should have the following advantageous features :-The operator should be able to open and close the door from his usue position but when closed no one except the operator should be able to open the door. hen the door is in either open or closed pr .ions the supply of fluid. should be autoinoticnlly out oli from the motor to prevent leakage and. waste ot fluid. When the door moves to nearly open or closed p itions a. cushioning' "action should occur to prevent slamming. When the door is open it should he adopted to be closed manually and such action should nutonmtically supply fluid under pressure to the mo tor to assist or complete such operation. When the door is arrested in its clsing movement as by ft person or obstacle in tilt. path of the dooly the power or fluid pres sure supply to the motor should be auto-- mntically cut oil to prevent injury to per' sons or apparatus.

The several objects of present invention are to provide improved mes whereby these desirable results may be accomplished in n fluid pressure door operating device.

In the accompanying drawing which. illustr'atcs a preferred. form oil construction cu1- bodying my in'iprovemenis. Figure l is "ertical section taken on the line m-a of" Figs. .2 and Fig. 2 a horizontal section taken on the line I) i; of Figs. 3 and 4; Fig. 3 a side elevation with the valve actuating motor indicated in vertical section; Fig. 4 a central transverse section; Fig. 5 a face View of the valve seat; Fig. (3 a faceview of the valve; find Fig. 7 an elevation, on it smaller scale, indicating a preferred location of the niotorend its connection to the door.

Various forms of fluid pressure motors may be employed for actuating the door but the construction here illustrated is of a type having a. long cylinder 8 with a double headed piston. the heads 9 being joined by a rod or bar 10 having" rack teeth 11 adapted to engage the geared segment- 12 on the rock shaft 13, and operate an arm 14 which may be connected to move the door in any desired manner. for instance, as indicated in Fig. 7.

23. valve is employed for controlling the supplv of fluid to the respective ends of the cylinder for opening and closing the door. and while any suitableor preferred form of valve may he used in any convenient location. I have illustrated a valve 15 of the rotary type located on a seat 16 formed either separate from or integral with the cylinder casing and frame to which a (up section 1'? covering the valve and chamber may be secured. side the casing is mounted a lever arm 19 to the ends of which may be attached pull rods or any suitable form of mechanical or electrical connections extending reach of the operator who is to control the erotion of the door. A supply pipe 20 (ling from 21 source of fluid pressure such a a, reservoir of compressed air communicates through port 21 in valve'seat and port 22 in valve "l5 with the valve chamber, the port :22 having an extension or cavity 23 in the face of the valve so that the compressed air or other fluid is admitted to the valve chmnber in all the positions of the valve. Ports 2% and 25 lead from the valve seat to the opposite ends of actuating cylinder 8 for admitting fluid under pressure to open and close the door. The valve is also provided with ports 26 and 27co1nmunicating with groove in the face of the valve and with the exhaust port 29 in the seat.

hen the valve is in its normal or la position, with the handle or lever 19 orivontul indi ated in Fig. 3, the supply of fluid to either end of the operating cylinder is cut oil, the ports 24 and 25 being closed. The valve lever is oscillated in one direction for connecting supply port 22 and groove 23 with port '24 and admitting fluid under pressure to the left end of cylinder 8 for moving the piston to open the door, and the On the valve stem 18 out- Within lever is turned in the opposite direct-ion from its normal or lap position to connect port 22 and groove 23 with port 25 for admitting fluid to the right end of the cylinder for closing the door. In order that the valve may normally occupy its lap position \vith thc"supply to either end of the cylinder" cut oil when the door is in either its open or closed position, and hereby prevent leakage, I provide means controlled by the movement of the motor piston or door to either end of its stroke for automatically shifting the valve to lap position and thereby out oflf the supply of fluid to the cylinder. Various forms of mechanism for this purpose may be devised, that shown herein comprising a valve shifting motor having cylinder communicating by ports 31 and 32 wi h the door actuating cylinder. and containing a double piston wit opposite heads 33 connected by rack bar 34 which engages teeth on the oscillating sleeve 35 mounted on the valve casing and provided with a projection 36 adapted to enga e the valve lever and shift the same to its horizontal position.

According to another feature of my improvements means are provided for cushioning the door at either end of its movement by compressing the fluid remaining at atmospheric pressure in the opposite end of the main motor cylinder, and this comprises ports through which the compressed air or other fluid may freely exhaustfrom the main motor cylinder to the atmosphere, such as ports 31 and 32 and ports 37 and 88 in. the valve shitting cylinder, and a restricted port, such as exhaust port 29, through which the atmospheric air is forced from the cylinder. The device then operates as follows: To close the door'the operator turns the valve lever to position for connecting ports Q2 and 23 with port- 25 to admit fluid under pressure to right end of cylinder 8. The

'pistoufl then moves toward the left. turning segment 12, shaft. 13 and arm 14 and thereby moving the door to its closed position. As the piston 9 passes the port 31 the atmospheric; air contained in the cylinder 8 at the left of the piston is forced out through ports 24, 2S and 29 and as this is a restricted passage the air is compressed sutliciently to ward the end of the stroke to retard the movement and form a cushion to prevent slamming of the door. As the piston 5) reaches the end of its stroke and passes the port 32 the fluid passes into the right end I of the valve shifting cylinder 30 forcing piston 33 to the loft. and thereby turning the sleeve35 so that. its projection 36 en gages the inclined lever 19 and shifts th same with the valve to normal lap position. This cuts ott the supply of fluid and opens both ends of the main motor cylinder to the atmosphere through ports 26, 27 and 29.

I the purpose i voir pressure just or.

This prevents any leakage, if there should be any, from acoumii'lating in the cylindfi. and causing any undesired movement of t door. As the valve shifting piston reaches the end of its stroke it opens port- 38 permitting tree exhaust or" fluid from the right end v of both cylinders. The mechanism then remains in this position until it is desired to open the door, when the operator turns the valve lever to the opposite inclined position in which the ports 22 and communicate with port 24 and admit fluid to the left end of cylinder 8. The action above described is then repeated, the air at the right end being compressed to form a cushion. and the piston 9 passing ort 31 at the end of its stroke to admit aid to valve shifting cylinder and actuate piston 33 to shift the valve hack to normal lap position thereby cutting oit the supply and opening outlet port 37.

If the door should be arrested in 'its closing movement, as by a person or object in its path, means are provided for cutting 05 the fluid pressure to the motor automatically, and this constitutes another feature of my improvements. herein shown this comprises a pressure operated valve 40 connected by port 39 with the cylinder 8 at a. short distance from its right end and having an adjustable spring i2 and piston 41 for controlling port or pipe 44 leading to the right end of valve actuating cylinder 30. As the fluid under pressure is admitted to the right end eylinder 8 to closethe door the piston moves to the right and clears port 39. It then the door is arrested and the piston 5) held at an intermediate position the pressure in the right end of the cylinder rises to substantially reservoir pressure and forces valve 40 from its'seat, the spring 42 being adjusted to permit the valve to open under a slightly less degree of pressure than that carried in the supply reservoir. v soon as valve 40 leaves its seat. the larger area of piston 41 is subjected "to the fluid pressure and immediately moves out to open communication through port 14: to the cylinder 30 Where the tinid acting on piston 33 instantly shifts the valve to normal lap position and cuts off the supply of motive fluid to cylinder 8, thereby relieving the pressure upon the door. A check "valve 15 may be located in the port or passage 32 to prevent the fluid admitted through port. 44 from escaping through port. 32 into the atn'iospheric space in cylinder 8 between the piston heads 9. When the fluid under pressure is first admitted to the cylinder 8 for of (l m the door the pros snromay moment rise to nearly rest-n are the piston i starts and tor this reason the port S is pretcrahly located a siort distance from the end of the oyiinderso as not to be opened until the pis ton is moving freely and the pressure re duced. By this means the pressure .valve 40 will be prevented from opening during the normal operation of the apparatus. There is a very small vent 43 from thespring chamber to prevent the accumulation of any pressure leaking past piston 41 but this vent is so small as not to interfere with the proper action of valve shifting piston 33 when fluid under pressure is admitted from cylinder 8 through port 32 and check valve 45 to cylinder 30.

According. tog-another feature of my ire-- provements' the apparatus is so designed that the door may manually be closed by any person and the fluid pressure mechanism automatically assists and completes the said closing movement. For this purpose the valve lever 19 may be provided with a projection 47 which is adapted to be engaged by a cam 46 located upon the door operating shaft 13 in such a manner that if the door should be manually moved from open. position toward closed position when the valve lever 19 is in its normal horizontal position, the cam 46 will engage projection 47 and shift the valve lever to the proper inclined position to admit fluid to the right end of actuating cylinder 8 and thereby efiect the complete closing of the door by the power mechanism and the automatic lapping movement of the valve in the usual manner. The power operating device may preferably be located substantially in position indicated in Fig. 7-, in which the operating a H may be nearly horizontal, as indies i in dotted lines, when the door is in its cl. position, and it will. then he practicahiy unpossihle for a person to manually open the door from its closed position, but the operating arm is nearly vertical in the open position the door may be readily moved by hand toward its closed position.

While I have described in detail a preferred construction for obtaining the desired advantages, it is apparent that my 1nvention is not limited to any specific means since 'arious forms of mechanism for performing;

these functions may readily be devised, all

within the spirit and scope of my improve ments.

it will be understood that the term door as employed herein includes a gate, switch, or other similar device adapted to be thrown to open and closed positions.

The features of my invention comprising the means for automatically cutting oi? the supply of fluid from the motor to prevent leakage and waste of fluid when the door stands in either open or closed pr sition, and the means for cushioning the movement of the same to prevent slamming, are not claimed herein as they form the subject matter of my divisional application, Se rial No. 712,849, filed August 2,

Having now described my invention, what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. in a door o 'ierating apparatus, the come binution. with a fluid pressure motor for operating the (loan of means governed by the fluid pressure for automatically cutting oil the supply of timid to the motor when the door is stopped during its closing movement.

in a door operating apparatus, the com hination with a door, a fluid pressure motorv and connecting mechanism for operating the door, of means operated by a predetermined of pressure upon the admis sion side of the motor to open an exhaust operating apparatus, the iii'iaiion door, a fluid pressure l 1.:onueotiug mechanism for operat .or, oi a valve is? controlling the pply off ilsiil to said motor to close the a mi, and meal "worried hy the fluid pressure for union ticully closing said valve when the door pod during closing mo :2 n

coor operating; apparatus, the com, n with a door, a fluid pressure motor ano connecting mechanism for operatdoor, of a valve for controlling the fluid to said motor to close-the operating apparatus, the eomhinatmn inn :1 door. fluid pressure motor and confirming mechanism for operating: the door, oi" a or controlling the .1" r t-l of fluid to s. motor to close the door. a "valve shifting motor, and a valve go nod the giiressure ii; the main motor Fluid to i valve motor.

for suppl 21i door operating apparatus, the coni'oir tiou door, a fluid pressure motor and cling i nrfisni for actul. i ruin. a

sting; th of means operated by the manual increment oi the door in rinsing for automatically mlmitiing iluul pressure to said motor.

5?. in door operating apparatus, the

combination with a door,

combination with a door, a fluid pressure motor, intermediate connecting mechanism, and a valve for. controlling the admission of fluid thereto for closing the door, of means operating upon the manual movement of the door from its open position to automatically open said valve.

10. In a door operating apparatus, the a fluid pressure motor, intermediate connecting mechanism, and a valve for controlling the admission of fluid thereto for closing the door, of means operated by the manual movementof the door from its open position forshifting id va ve to supply fluid to assist in the nosing ovement.

I. I a door operating apparatus, the combination with a door, a fluid pressure motor, intermediate connecting mechanism,

and a valve for controlling the admission of fluid thereto for closing the door, of a cam device operated by ment of the door for automatically shifting said valve.

12. In a door operating a p'aratus, the

combination vvith a door, a uid pressure motor, intermediate connecting mechanism, and a valve for controlling the admission of fluid thereto for closing the door, of mechanism operated by the manual movemeiit of the door from its open position for opening said valve, and means for automatically closing said valve at the end of the stroke.

In testimony ivhereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ALBERT GOTTSGHALK.

Witnesses JOHN LANSBERRY, FRANK BIRD.

the manual move- 

